Transport Domain: A Highly Interesting Field...

We can expect a very exciting time for the transport field, with two main areas of research: First, the application of cooperative strategies between the various entities involved in traffic (technology and non-technology enabled), and second, the transition from manual to automated driving. Persuasive technology has the potential to push the field forward, e.g., by applying methods to lessen selfish behavior and thus, to establish cooperative self organization. Furthermore, using gamification approaches or incentives, it is expected that the transition between different levels of control in partial automation and the co-existence of manual and automated cars can be made smoother and more safe.

Safety, efficiency and ecological impact of transportation systems is dependent on the attitudes and behaviors of their users...

People often have the choice between different routes and transportation modalities, they have certain driving styles, and they will have various attitudes towards concepts like car sharing and semi-autonomous driving. Persuasive Technology, that is, interactive information technology designed for changing users’ attitudes or behavior [1], has shown to be effective also in many areas of transport, demonstrated for example by a large EU FP7 project "MyWay'' (http://myway-project.eu) or many other related works, e.g.,[2], [3], [4], or [5].

Due to its interdisciplinary nature, research on persuasion in transport applications is fairly scattered across communities as diverse as psychology, transportation science, computer science and automotive user interfaces. We would like to take the Persuasive Technology 2016 conference as an opportunity to achieve a first step towards a systematic overview of the field of persuasion in transport applications.

To this end, we need to have a general consensus on (1) what to persuade (the goal state), and (2) how to persuade (methodologies, modalities, and strategies), and thus we can design (3) optimal applications for vehicle environments. To achieve (1) what to persuade, more data need to be systematically archived from across multiple disciplines. To better (2) how to persuade, we may need to go beyond the traditional conceptualization about the relationship between driver and vehicle. One of the directions could include making computers (in our case, "vehicle'') more social. For example, \cite{Salah2013} shows that the role of pervasive systems is "(to support) change from a passive observer to a socially active participant that influences people's attitudes and behaviors, by providing support in goal selection and acquisition''. Even under this assumption, we can think of different strategies (e.g., social interaction between a driver and an intelligent transportation system, extension of the driver's social interactions with other "people'' by utilizing a car's networking and other capabilities, etc.). To design (3) optimal in-vehicle applications, these efforts can evolve with rapidly changing situations of transport industry (e,g., intelligent transportation systems, connected vehicles, semi/full autonomous vehicles).